[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 105 (Thursday, July 30, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4059, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS 
                               ACT, 1999

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                               speech of

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 29, 1998

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 
Military Construction Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 1999 (H.R. 
4059).
  I am particularly pleased the House and Senate authorizing and 
appropriating committees have listened closely to the case I have been 
making for many years on behalf of funding the P-208 Lakehurst Aircraft 
Platform Interface (API) laboratory, and they are now responding.
  I also want to extend my thanks to the support extended to the API 
lab by the Chairman of the Military Appropriations Subcommittee, Ron 
Packard, and on the Senate side, by my New Jersey colleague, Senator 
Frank Lautenberg. It is very encouraging to see that the report 
language contained in the House and Senate versions of H.R. 4059 have 
survived and are included in the final product tonight. As a result, 
H.R. 4059 includes directive report language that earmarks $1.65 
million in planning and design funds to be used to begin designing the 
P-208 Lakehurst API lab project.
  At my urging, the House reaffirmed its support for the P-208 project 
in the report accompanying H.R. 3616, the Fiscal Year 1999 Defense 
Authorization Act, and now Congress is specifically appropriating the 
funds to adequately finance the planning and design of the P-208 API 
lab.
  I also want to commend the Navy for moving forward with this vital 
project in an expeditious manner. The Naval Facilities Engineering 
Command (NAVFAC), in response to one of my inquiries, has informed me 
that on May 22, 1998, the Navy issued the necessary authorization to 
begin the planning and design of those military construction projects 
listed for fiscal year 2000, which includes the Lakehurst API lab. The 
only questions remaining now are how many square feet the facility will 
have and what it will look like.
  Mr. Speaker, today is a very good day for America, for naval 
aviation, and for the people of the 4th Congressional District. It has 
been a long, grueling fight to successfully get the Lakehurst API 
consolidation project to this point, and the battle is by no means 
over. However, in the end, our Navy pilots and carrier crew will be 
able to operate more safely, more efficiently, and more effectively 
because of the improvements that will be brought about by the P-208 API 
lab project.

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